This invention relates to an electronic information management system for abstracting and reporting document information. The invention has particular utility as an information management tool for lease contracts in the commercial real estate industry. In effort to alleviate the inherent inefficiencies of a traditional paper environment, the invention provides a globally-accessible electronic system applicable for contract abstracting, centralized data warehousing, customized information reporting, and electronic data conversion. These features allow users, even if in different locations, to access the same documents and data at the same time. And by offering these features within one software system, the invention eliminates the costly and unnecessary storing of redundant information across multiple platforms.
The invention contains electronic records with hundreds of fields used to house pertinent financial and non-financial information of a lease and its supporting documents, such as rent rolls, square footage reconciliations, and correspondence. More importantly, the invention stores all of this data in one central database, thereby avoiding unnecessary and costly storing of redundant information. In addition to storing abstracted information, the invention can create any type of report from this stored data. The result is an accurate, organized, manageable summary of the lease and its terms coupled with the ability to produce reports specifically tailored to the individual needs of each user.
Typical contract information abstracted, evaluated, and verified using the present invention includes (i) General Lease Information, e.g., property name, lease status, important dates suite information, contact/notice parties; (ii) Financial Information, e.g., rent schedules, recurring charges, percentage rental, renewal options, improvement allowances, commissions, security deposits, late fees; (iii) Non-Financial/Legal Information, e.g., tenant and landlord covenants, tenant and landlord restrictions, exclusive rights, use restrictions, co-tenancy requirements, laws and ordinances, insurance requirements, default specifications, damage specifications, marketing and promotions, holdover, kick out, relocation, radius restrictions; (iv) Operational Information, e.g., landlord and tenant maintenance, structural repairs and HVAC tracking & forecasting; and (v) Lease Issues, e.g., A unique field in which all inconsistencies and discrepancies found between the lease and its supporting documents are recorded. Common issues include rent roll miscalculations, incomplete subletting/assignment information, and Tenant name-change histories.
Data Warehousing
Inherent to any database application is the electronic storage of data. In commercial real estate, the due diligence process is often hampered by the dispersion of data, as information is generally stored in multiple programs or applications such as your accounting system and Microsoft Word or Excel. The invention alleviates this hindrance, as it stores all relevant financial and non-financial information in one centralized location. More importantly, the information can be accessed via the Internet by an unlimited number of people in different locations at the same time.
Electronic Storage of Lease Documents
The invention further enables the indexing of scanned or electronically stored lease documents contained in the system. Standard lease documents may include, for example, the lease itself, exhibits, amendments, estoppel certificates, insurance certificates, site plans, floor plans, aerial photographs, and the like. Once these documents are indexed, the user can then drill down to a specific desired document, or to an exact clause within a document, while simultaneously viewing a user-created summary of the indexed document or clause. This technology virtually eliminates the need and cost of duplicating lease files, and the time wasted searching for misplaced lease files, contracts, and other paper documents. By implementing the system of the present invention, the efficiencies realized over time are beyond measure.
Information Reporting
The invention is a relational database; i.e., it stores information in a multitude of individual, interactive tables. This significantly enhances reporting functionality as the software divides the masses of relevant data into readily identifiable and accessible tables of information.
The invention provides the unique ability to quickly and conveniently produce reports specifically tailored to the individual needs of each user—whether its a standard report, such as rent rolls, financial and non-financial lease summaries; or a property-level report, such as co-tenancy restrictions, HVAC, and tenant exclusive rights; or a custom report that caters exclusively to user requirements, such as options and recoveries information.
Data Conversion
The invention is designed to facilitate the importing and exporting of data in either a one-to-one base conversion or a multi-base conversion. By utilizing a relational database, the invention readily transfers data, regardless of where the data is currently stored or where it is to be moved. In a one-to-one base conversion, information currently housed in one database or location is imported into the present system and is then verified. This data is then manually entered into a new-user accounting system from reports produced by the invention, and in a format corresponding directly to that of the new-user accounting system. A multi-base conversion is applicable to information stored in a number of different programs, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Lotus, SQL, FoxPro, Paradox, and MRI. In this case, because the information would be more useful if accessible from a single program, the invention can import the data from these various locations and combine them all in one central database.